For the icing

Mainly grown in Jamaica, Africa, India, China and Australia, ginger is the root of the plant. It…

5 tbsp icing mix

Method

Butter and line a 23cm square baking tin (or use a shallow roasting tin, approx 30 x 20cm). Heat oven to 160C/fan 140C/gas 3. Put the butter, sugar and treacle into a saucepan and heat gently for about 5 mins until the butter and sugar have melted. Stir in the milk. The mix should be just warm to the touch; if not, leave to cool a little longer, then beat in the eggs.

Mix the chopped ginger and dry ingredients together in a large bowl and make a well in the centre. Pour the melted mix into the well, then gradually draw the dry ingredients into the wet with a wooden spoon, until you have a thick, smooth batter.

Pour the batter into the prepared tin, then bake for 1 hr until risen and firm to the touch. Resist taking a peek beforehand; the cake will sink if the oven temperature drops too quickly before it's cooked through. Poke a skewer into the centre to check that it's cooked - it should come out clean. If not, give it 10 mins more and check again. Leave the cake to cool in the tin. Once completely cool, turn out of the tin ready for icing, or wrap well in cling film and keep in a cool, dry place for up to a week.

To make the icing, sift the icing sugar into a bowl and add the gingery syrup. Beat well until you have a smooth, runny icing. Once the cake has cooled, drizzle with icing and cut into squares. If you're planning to let the cake mature for a while, make the icing on the day you want to cut it.

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Comments, questions and tips

Comments (64)

lvd8515th Apr, 2016

This cake is so delicious! Don't think it needs the icing. Don't know what icing mix is either, but in the little cookbook I have from BBC Good Food (101 cupcakes & small bakes) they say to use icing sugar. Anyway, this cake was a huge success! Will make again.

Love this cake!! Totally delicious and moist, even in fan oven which I was worried about after reading another comment. Added extra teaspoon of ground ginger, 1/2 of cinnamon and 1/2 of nutmeg as well as the mixed spice and didn't do icing. Could only find crystallised ginger which I don't think is glacé ginger, if it is I would leave out next time. Did in two 2lb loaf tins and cooked for 55 minutes, came out perfectly.

Such a lovely ginger cake - surprisingly fluffy and light and we've eaten a quarter of it with one pot of tea already! I added in a bit more ground ginger but I think it could have actually done with another teaspoon more if you want it properly spicy. Just delicious and will make this again.

Lovely cake. I made it almost exactly as the recipe stipulates. I did however take into account the comments made by previous posters and add more ground ginger (half a teaspoon more) and some nutmeg. It was perfectly moist and absolutely delicious. One bit of advice: try not to cook it in a fan oven, if you have the choice. I find my fan oven dries out cakes noticeably, everything turns out much better in the conventional oven.

You should really tell in cups as well as grams and bicarbonate is also called baking soda. Treacle is molasses here which should also be mentioned. I'm making it now but however will not use icing mix as there are a billion chemicals in it. Regular icing or even boiled icing is good. If making it next time would try a cream cheese icing but it might be a little rich.

This cake is amazing - I loved it so much that I think it would be dangerous (for my waistline) to make it again anytime soon!I did use mixed spice rather than allspice, and the cake did dip slightly in the middle despite my not opening the oven door before it was ready but it was hardly noticable when cut up.This this cake is best made a day in advance as taste better with time (if you can resist).

A delicious cake. I used cinnamon instead of allspice (as I did not have any and it still tasted great. It would be fantastic warm as a desert with custard or vanilla ice-cream. Wonderfully aromatic and moorish. I'll be making this again and again.

What an incredible cake! Never made or tasted ginger cake before so gave this a try... Easy to make and the taste - oh so scrumptious!Very popular cake. Made it for work and they all loved it...Deeply flavoursome...My favourite cake ever!!!!

I've made this cake loads of times now and it has worked well every time. I get comments like this is the best gingerbread I've ever had, and requests to make more. Unheard of as I'm not that great a cook.

Really delicious cake, although I amended it a bit using molasses sugar and rum to give a bit of a different flavour. Was lovely and moist and kept well for several days. Didn't bother with the icing and think it might've been even yummier if warmed up with some cream, custard or ice cream.

Best ginger cake I've ever tasted! I didn't think the icing would taste of much but the syrup really soaks up the ginger flavour in the jar, so don't even think about omitting the icing! Lovely and moist, I made it yesterday and it tastes even better today. Try it!

I made this last week for a Ladies Group and it went down a storm. I made it four days in advance and let it mature wrapped in foil. My icing was a bit too runny at first so I added more icing sugar but to be honest I'm not sure it needs icing as it is delicious without.I'd like to try it as a dessert with custard too.

Lovely and quick to make cake. Modified it slightly when I discovered after I had started that I had no allspice or powdered ginger, so I used Chinese 5 spice powder and it was delicious, it reminded me of old fashioned sweets.I also made it in 2 loaf tins rather than a square cake tin but they still took an hour to cook, might have got away with a bit less but I was wary of opening the door and making them drop.

This is very easy to make and extremely moorish . Went down a treat, Perfect for bonfire night or any other night for that matter !! I cut down the sugar and treacle by 50g each and added extra ginger , as we like things very gingery. If you can't wait to get a really sticky top and want to skip the icing brush over a small amount of the ginger syrup from the stem ginger over the top instead. I have also made this into a fruited ginger cake by adding mixed dried fruits which were pre soaked in cranberry juice over night before using in the cake. Enjoy. Best ginger cake I have ever made. makes 2 x 7'' square cakes instead of one big one if preferred.

Just made this cake and have to say totally delicious. BUT, not sure if I did something wrong, but when I poured the liquid into the well in the dry ingredients there was so much liquid it swamped my "well" so I couldn't draw the dry ingredients in slowly. I ended up stirring desperately trying to blend so as not to end up with a lumpy batter. Not sure I got it all fully incorporated although the cake looks OK and the bit that overflowed onto the oven bottom tastes fantastic - just praying there's no dry lumps inside. Next time I will use larger dish than the recipe states to avoid overflow. But any tips about mixing the liquid with the dry ingredients please?

Why does my cake sink? I have made this cake a number of times, also several other variations and it always sinks. I never open the oven door and don't have a problem with other cakes (and I do make cakes on a regular basis). They always taste fab but don't look the best!Any suggestions?

Hi there, thanks for your question and sorry to hear the cake didn't work out. It sounds like your oven may not be at the correct temperature. Try testing it with an oven thermometer and adjusting accordingly. If this doesn't help, let us know.

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